Asteroid Mining an Overview

1997

"500 kilometers from the lunar base, astronauts make quick work of a rare service call on one of the exploration-class teleoperated rovers. Drawing by Paul Hudson. Vehicle and suit design by Brand Griffin. Copyright 1993."

International Journal of Impact Engineering, 2006

A research program was funded by the European space agency (ESA) to improve and optimize the shields used to protect the manned elements of the international space station (ISS) against impacts of micro-meteoroids and orbital debris. After a review of existing shielding systems and after a series of light gas gun (LGG) experiments to screen interesting new materials and configurations, the research focused on shields with a metallic outer bumper, an intermediate stuffing and an inner metallic wall (representing the pressure shell of a manned spacecraft). Additional LGG experiments were performed on several configurations, with bumpers containing aluminum foam or made from titanium and aluminum super-alloys and with several combinations of stuffing materials. The comparison of the test results showed that ceramic cloth (Nextel) plus aramid fabric (both 2D and 2.5D Kevlar weaving) used as intermediate bumper gave a good protection compared to the overall area density requested. Configurations with by-layered aluminum foam bumpers (sandwich panels with asymmetric Al face sheets and a core made from Al foam) and Kevlar stuffing showed excellent resistance to normal impacts at about 6.5 km/s. However, the influence of material properties varying from batch to batch and threshold phenomena made ranking among the tested options rather difficult. The test campaign showed that it was rather difficult to improve over the already good ballistic performances of the debris shields developed by Alenia Spazio for the ISS manned elements. The by-layered Al-foam bumper and Kevlar stuffing configuration was selected for additional tests, including low velocity and oblique impacts, to develop ballistic limit curves.

This paper is a 'milestone' in the work of the NEAmines group 01 Why shielding? What shielding?

ArmorHab architecture aims to develop long term habitats, constructed primarily (>50%) from in-situ resources of planetary bodies, using synthetic magnetospheres for shielding, providing protection for each type of habitat: transport, orbital, and surface habitats. The ArmorHab architecture adapts to the challenges of extraterrestrial environments (extremes of temperature, pressure, radiation, etc.) using a combination of existing and new technologies. We maintain breathable air with redundant biological and mechanical systems, self-sealing walls which protect against micro-meteoroid punctures, and defense in-depth by using multiple sealed chambers with connecting airlocks. In low-gravity conditions, gravity is emulated through centrifugal force. Radiation shielding is provided by magnetosphere emulation using steady-state superconductive cables. Food production uses aeroponic and hydroponic industrial scale facilities, including lab-grown meats. The crew is busy with commercially productive mining, manufacturing, and base/station operations, including food production. Thermal isolation from the environment uses a combination of IR reflective films, thermal mass, and aerogel insulation. Structural components are built from in-situ materials using additive manufacturing and other advanced techniques. All of the components of the ArmorHab architecture serve multiple purposes: a layer of ice will provide self-sealing micrometeorite defense along with supplementary radiation shielding and water storage; structural reinforcement of the habitat will play a role in forming the artificial magnetosphere; algae bioreactors and radiation-resistant plants will scrub carbon dioxide and pollutants, produce biomass that will be utilized, and provide additional radiation protection.

Acta Astronautica, 2013

Humans are considered as a system in the design of any deep space exploration mission. The addition of many potential near asteroid (NEA) destinations to the existing multiple mission architecture for Lunar and Mars missions increases the complexity of human health and performance issues that are anticipated for exploration of space. We suggest that risks to human health and performance be analyzed in terms of the 4 major parameters related to multiple mission architecture: destination, duration, distance and vehicle design. Geological properties of the NEA will influence design of exploration tasks related to sample handling and containment, and extravehicular activity (EVA) capabilities including suit ports and tools. A robotic precursor mission that collects basic information on NEA surface properties would reduce uncertainty about these aspects of the mission as well as aid in mission architecture and exploration task design. Key mission parameters are strongly impacted by duration and distance. The most critical of these is deep-space radiation exposure without even the temporary shielding of a nearby large planetary body. The current space radiation permissible exposure limits (PEL) limits mission duration to 3-10 months depending on age, gender and stage of the solar cycle. Duration also impacts mission architectures including countermeasures for bone, muscle, and cardiovascular atrophy during continuous weightlessness; and behavioral and psychological issues resulting from isolation and confinement. Distance affects communications and limits abort and return options for a NEA mission. These factors are anticipated to have important effects on crew function and autonomous operations, as well as influence medical capability, supplies and training requirements of the crew. The design of a habitat volume that can maintain the physical and psychological health of the crew and support mission operations with limited intervention from earth will require an integrated research and development effort between NASA's Human Research Program (HRP), engineering and human factors groups. Packaging food to extend shelf life and waste management will be important components of vehicle subsystem design.

2014

NewSpace bears all the hallmarks of past revolutions in technology. Since we have other examples of exponential growth of specific technologies, we should maximize the economic and engineering potential of this movement by expanding the envelopes for long term crewed habitats in deep space. We should also take an approach that minimizes waste in both design and fabrication as these bases expand. This paper provides a systematic approach to habitats optimized for volume, radiation protection, crew psychology, reusability, affordability, crowd-sourced subsystem design, and expansion. These habitats and systems are designed to be as “future proof” as possible to allow rapid and safe technological advancement within the structures. One of major “showstoppers” of human space exploration is cosmic and solar events radiation. It is a serious problem that may cause cancer and other types of tissue damage and equipment malfunction. It has to be addressed in space vehicles design especially f...

… SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DI …, 2008

The SPADA (SPAce Dosimetry for Astronauts) project is a part of an extensive teamwork that aims to optimize shielding solutions against space radiation. Shielding is indeed an irreplaceable tool to reduce exposure of crews of future Moon and Mars missions. We concentrated our studies on two flexible materials, Kevlar R and Nextel R , because of their ability to protect human space infrastructures from micrometeoroids. We measured radiation hardness of these shielding materials and compared to polyethylene, generally acknowledged as the most effective space radiation shield with practical applications in spacecraft. Both flight test (on the International Space Station and on the Russian FOTON M3 rocket), with passive dosimeters and accelerator-based experiments have been performed. Accelerator tests using high-energy Fe ions have demonstrated that Kevlar is almost as effective as polyethylene in shielding heavy ions, while Nextel is a poor shield against high-charge and -energy particles. Preliminary results from spaceflight, however, show that for the radiation environment in low-Earth orbit, dominated by trapped protons, thin shields of Kevlar and Nextel provide limited reduction.

2014

The paper deals with the conceptual design of a manned target-independent vehicle to support human exploration of a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) for the most suitable and safe close approach, and especially to foster important exploration capabilities in order to maximize the scientific return of such missions. The focus is on a concept of space vehicle capable of actively supporting humans during the asteroid exploration and commute phases of an Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), and particularly on overcoming some of the issues in human space exploration, regarding for instance psychological aspects (e.g. fear of pushing out into the void) and spacecraft assembling procedures. The resulting design corresponds to a small unpressurised vehicle able to support mobility, maximizing human agility, but always considering safety as the main driver: for these reasons it has been named NEA Robotic Friend (NRF). The asteroid 1999 RA32 has been chosen as reference for this paper, even though the proposed concept is intended to be suitable for other targets, being versatility one of the main mission drivers, in addition to reliability, simplicity, and the abovementioned safety. The proximity operations within this mission last 8 days: on each day the NRF carries two astronauts and the required exploration equipment from the Deep Space Habitat (DSH) to several asteroid sites until the end of the EVA, when they return to the mother ship. The central role of the human being in such a mission led to consider psychological aspects as key design points, since mission success will be mostly dependent on astronauts" performance. Accordingly, to shape and size the NRF, an ergonomic design is then proposed, and indeed enriched by the study of the concept of operations, pursuing a multidisciplinary approach for most design trade-offs. The paper starts from the motivations for a small spacecraft such as the NRF, and then describes the applied methodology to perform the present study. Through functional analysis, requirements generation and high level decisions, preliminary configuration and budgets are deduced. The NRF configuration is shown to be preferable to other solutions like Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) and Man-in-Can. The main criticalities (docking with the DSH or assembling for instance) and benefits of this solution are finally discussed in the conclusions.

AIAA Space 2003 Conference & Exposition, 2003

This paper considers the process for jump-starting a space-based economy. The centerpiece is a project to build the massive radiation shield for the first largescale human habitat at one of the Lagrangian points of the Earth-Moon system. A process of synergistic development is outlined, where the markets, resources and risk reduction implications of a large economy are facilitated. Provision of clear knowledge and methods to reduce risks and calculate business models, is seen to be key to igniting sufficient public interest for this process.